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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRuss Feingold: How the Republican party quietly does the bidding of white supremacists
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/19/republican-party-white-supremacists-charlottesville?CMP=fb_usHow the Republican party quietly does the bidding of white supremacists
Russ Feingold
Let us finally rip off the veneer that Trumps affinity for white supremacy is distinct from the Republican agenda. It isnt
Russ Feingold is a former Senator for Wisconsin
Saturday 19 August 2017 06.00 EDT
It takes approximately 30 seconds to send a tweet. A half hour to draft and release a statement. And the shelf life of both is only marginally longer. We should not commend Republican party elected officials who claim outrage on social media at Trumps remarks, often without daring to mention his name. The phony claimed outrage becomes dangerous if it convinces anyone that there is a distinction between Trumps abhorrent comments and the Republican Party agenda.
The lesson from Charlottesville is not how dangerous the neo-Nazis are. It is the unmasking of the Republican party leadership. In the wake of last weekends horror and tragedy, let us finally, finally rip off the veneer that Trumps affinity for white supremacy is distinct from the Republican agenda of voter suppression, renewed mass incarceration and the expulsion of immigrants.
There is a direct link between Trumps comments this week and those policies, so where is the outrage about the latter? Where are the Republican leaders denouncing voter suppression as racist, un-American, and dangerous? Where are the Republican leaders who are willing to call out the wink (and the direct endorsement) from President Trump to the white supremacists and acknowledge their own partys record and stance on issues important to people of color as the real problem for our country?
snip//
If Republican lawmakers want to distinguish themselves from Trumps comments, they need to do more than type out 144 characters on their phone. They need to take a hard look at their partys agenda.
A good start would be with voting rights. Lets see lawmakers like John Kasich in Ohio immediately stop the states intended purging of voting records. Lets see Wisconsin lawmakers throw out their gerrymandered district map and form a non-partisan redistricting commission.
Lets see strict voter ID laws criticized with the same vitriol that Republicans used in responding to the events in Charlottesville. Lets see Republicans call out their own agenda, and openly recognize the connection between the agenda of the racist alt-right and that of the Republican party.
Anything short of radical change to the Republican partys war on voters of color is merely feigned outrage. Even if the white supremacists are condemned, even if the entire Republican party rises up in self-professed outrage at white supremacists, if voter suppression and other such racist policies survive, the white supremacists are winning. And America is losing.
Russ Feingold is a former Senator for Wisconsin
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Russ Feingold: How the Republican party quietly does the bidding of white supremacists (Original Post)
babylonsister
Aug 2017
OP
I do hope he returns to the Senate..He is a real progressive in every way..!!!! nt
Stuart G
Aug 2017
#3
Stuart G
(38,448 posts)1. I miss Russ. I supported him in the last election..
He lost...
babylonsister
(171,094 posts)2. Or not...I think a lot of
people 'lost' who actually didn't; thank the Russians. We shall see eventually, hopefully.
Stuart G
(38,448 posts)3. I do hope he returns to the Senate..He is a real progressive in every way..!!!! nt
dalton99a
(81,599 posts)5. +1
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)4. They need to be shown the falsehood of their rationalizations.
Raastan
(266 posts)6. K + R
Wounded Bear
(58,719 posts)7. K & R ......this has been a long time brewing...
Repubs sold out long ago, starting with the Southern Strategy and right through Reagan announcing his candidacy in Philadelphia, Mississippi. For many years, they masked it fairly well. It's out now. They are who they are.
leftstreet
(36,116 posts)8. DURec